Turkish Airlines Flight 278
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 TC-JES, the aircraft involved in the accident. | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 29 December 1994 |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error |
| Site | |
 | |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 737-4Y0 |
| Aircraft name | Mersin |
| Operator | Turkish Airlines |
| IATA flight No. | TK278 |
| ICAO flight No. | THY278 |
| Call sign | TURKISH 278 |
| Registration | TC-JES |
| Flight origin | Ankara Esenboğa Airport, Ankara, Turkey |
| Destination | Van Ferit Melen Airport, Van, Turkey |
| Occupants | 76 |
| Passengers | 69 |
| Crew | 7 |
| Fatalities | 57 |
| Injuries | 19 |
| Survivors | 19 |
Turkish Airlines Flight 278, operated by a Boeing 737-4Y0 registered TC-JES and named Mersin, was a domestic scheduled flight from Ankara Esenboğa Airport to Van Ferit Melen Airport in eastern Turkey that crashed on 29 December 1994 during its final approach to land in driving snow. Five of the seven crew and 52 of the 69 passengers lost their lives, while 2 crew members and 17 passengers survived with serious injuries.[1]
The aircraft, a Boeing 737-400 with two CFMI CFM56-3C1 jet engines and was built by Boeing with manufacturer serial number 26074/2376.[1] The captain was Adem Ungun, and the first officer was Yavuz Alıcı.[2]
Crash
At 15:30 EET (13:30 UTC) on 29 December 1994, the plane struck a hill near Edremit district of Van Province at 1,700 m (5,700 ft) above mean sea level around 4 km (2.5 mi) from Van Airport while on a third VOR-DME approach to the Runway 03 in bad weather, despite a warning from air traffic control not to attempt any more approaches in a snowstorm. The visibility was 900 m (3,000 ft) reducing to 300 m (980 ft) in heavy driving snow.[1][2][3]
